The finding that nonspecific supportive clinical management was superior to more specialized psychotherapies was opposite to the primary hypothesis and challenges assumptions about the effective ingredients of successful treatments for anorexia nervosa.

Phone: +61 8 6488 2644Fax: +61 8 6488 2655 2 Abstract Background: There is a lack of evidence pointing to the efficacy of any specific

Adults with anorexia nervosa are a difficult to treat group. The imbalance between groups in partner relationships may explain differences in service utilisation favouring SSCM. This study confirms SSCM as a useful treatment for out-patients with anorexia nervosa. The novel treatment, MANTRA, designed for this patient group may need adaptations to fully exploit its potential.

CBT is a highly effective treatment for bulimia nervosa. B-ERP was modestly superior to P-ERP at post-treatment; however, the advantage did not remain throughout the follow-up interval. ERP for bulimia nervosa is an expensive and logistically complicated treatment that does not appear to offer any significant additive benefits that are proportional to the amount of effort required to implement the treatment.

Possible effective components of SSCM are discussed.